Ambassador escapes as Hercules explodes in flames on landing
The Times
www.timesonline.co.uk
25th May 2006

THE British Ambassador to Afghanistan narrowly escaped with his life yesterday when fire engulfed his aircraft after it landed on a desert strip in the troubled Helmand province.

The most probable cause of the fire was a tyre bursting on the rough surface, sending debris flying into the engine. Officials said that fuel was seen leaking from the RAF Hercules C130, and the aircrew rushed the passengers off moments before it exploded. But the Ministry of Defence could not rule out the possibility that the £4 million aircraft had hit a mine. Taleban fighters have declared war on the 3,400 British troops arriving in the province and have become increasingly daring in their attacks in the past two weeks.

The Hercules had flown from Kabul to Lashkar Gah with a bullet-proof car — believed to have been for Helmand’s governor — an engineer, nine aircrew and 24 passengers. They included the governor’s brother and the British Ambassador, Stephen Evans, who arrived in Afghanistan on April 30.

It had barely touched down when it was engulfed in flames, sending black smoke billowing into the sky. As Afghan firefighters fought the blaze, ammunition could be heard exploding in the hold. Soon all that was left of the huge plane was the tail section and the burnt-out carcass of the bullet-proof car. Debris was strewn across the runway.

One British lieutenant, who would only identify himself as Jim, told The Times: “It is a f****** miracle that no one is dead.”

The ambassador was quickly driven to the British army base two kilometres away, in a fleet of armoured four-wheel drive vehicles. Two of the passengers suffered minor injuries.

Amanullah Darvis, 43, a policeman who guards the airport, said: “The plane landed. After that all I saw was black smoke. There was an explosion, one of the engines stopped and started to burn, 20 to 30 people ran out. They were rushed away in jeeps.”

Another witness, Haji Sadu Khan, 49, a military commander, said: “I was taking ablutions before my prayers. I heard a big explosion, then another. Something was wrong with the engine. I saw fire.”

The runway is merely a dusty expanse of land strewn with stones, and Lieutenant Tamara Lawrence, an American coalition spokeswoman, said: “Initial reports indicate a tyre burst on landing and debris went up into an engine and caused the fire.”

She ruled out hostile fire as the cause, and there was no claim of responsibility from the Taleban. However, the airstrip was quickly cordoned off and patrols swept the area for mines. One British officer was heard shouting to his men: “It’s a possible mine strike.”

Although the runway is guarded by 60 Afghan police, security is noticeably lax, with British troops patrolling only during take-offs and landings.

The crash came amid the fiercest spate of attacks mounted by the Taleban since a US-led coalition crushed their regime after the attacks of September 11, 2001. In the latest battle, an Afghan policemen and four Afghan soldiers were killed in Uruzgan province. Two dozen Taleban fighters also died. Between 300 and 400 people have been killed in the past week.

The US military conceded yesterday that the Taleban was resurgent in parts of Afghanistan. “There’s no doubt that the Taleban have grown in strength and influence in certain areas in Kandahar, Helmand and southern Uruzgan,” Colonel Tim Collins told journalists. “That’s why we are going after them.”

President Karzai summoned Lieutenant-General Karl Eikenberry, the commander of the US-led coalition, over the deaths of at least 16 civilians in a US assault on insurgents in Kandahar province on Sunday and told him: “The Afghan people are standing firm in support of the fight against terrorism, but in the course of such operations any harm to civilians should be avoided.”

Yesterday’s was not the first incident at Lashkar Gah airstrip. Last month a Russian-built Antonov 32 plane carrying drug eradication agents crashed into a lorry driving across the runway. It then ploughed into nearby homes, killing at least five people.